That was unsettling

 So, after the workman left today (caulking and scraping), and after I ate dinner, I decided "I've been cooped up for two days, maybe I go for a little drive in the country"

I decided to go north or east to avoid the sun in my eyes. Eventually, I wound up on 22 going to Caddo, figuring I knew the way home from there and I could make a big loop. 

I had just passed Kenefic (which is not so much a town as a small cluster of houses) and was rounding a curve when up ahead of me, about 100 yards, I saw something in the other lane - I thought it was a very small car at first but it turned out to be a big touring-type motorcycle - run right off the road.

Either he was going too fast for the turn in the road, or he missed it, or maybe he turned too sharply, but he just ran right off the road and disappeared.

For a moment I was like "no. I didn't see that, I'm imagining things" but then I thought - as I approached where it had gone off - "You better stop and check"

Fortunately, there was a pull off for some rancher's field and enough space before the gate so I could get my car in. So I got out, grabbed my phone and walked over to the other side of the road. At first I didn't see anything and once again thought I could somehow have imagined it, or that maybe it was a cow (the motorcycle was brown) and my brain interpreted it as something other than it was.

Then I saw the man lying in the bar ditch.

Oh no.

I admit, I wasn't as level headed as I could have been- part of it was I was in a dress and sandals and really didn't want to go crawling down in a bar ditch where there would be bugs and might be snakes. But really? I was afraid the man would be dead.

Thank God, he was not. I called out to him and he called back, I saw him trying to get up and I told him not to. I said I would call 911

It took AGONIZINGLY long for them to connect me up with the right county's EMS (rural life....) but finally they got out of me that I was on 22 (I didn't remember at first) and was between Kenefic and Caddo.

I told the man help was on the way. He said "I can't get my phone out of my pocket" and I asked him if I could call someone for him but he said he couldn't remember the number."

I stood up by the shoulder and said a quick prayer that they'd get there soon, and he wasn't so badly hurt that they wouldn't be able to help him. 

Very shortly after that a police officer showed up and went down to assist. Then the volunteer fire department - good, because one of the firefighters determined the motorcycle was leaking gasoline. Then a state trooper. Then a solo EMS guy, who started attending to the man. The state trooper took my witness statement and information. As he told me "We don't need you for anything more, you can go" an ambulance pulled up.

The guy was conscious through all of it. I heard him tell the EMS guy his head, back, and shoulder hurt, but it seems most likely he will live - maybe he'll have a broken bone and some bruises, but considering he wasn't wearing a helmet, he was lucky. 

On the one hand: it was unpleasant and unsettling and sort of spoiled my drive. But on the other hand - if I had not seen him go off the road, well, there was no one else there, and he was lying down in a bar ditch about 8' below the road surface; it seems unlikely anyone would have seen him and I don't think he was in a state to be able to pull himself up to the road. (One of my friends on twitter noted "you were his luck today")

A couple other cars did pass after I called and I tried to flag them down but they didn't stop. (Heh, though once the first responders showed up, there were people ready to rubberneck).

Hopefully the man will be okay. As I said, he seemed to be conscious the entire time, and that's a good sign, and also, they will probably take him to the hospital and get him checked out. 

But that kind of changed my evening. I found a different way home (I didn't want to risk getting tangled in all the emergency cars) and then stopped at the Sonic and got a hot fudge sundae - I had half thought of getting an ice cream while I was out but I just wanted to be closer to home at that point, and the Sonic is just a few blocks from my house. 

I ate it in the car at the Sonic because it was already melting

Edited to add: Confirmation that he at least made it to the hospital OK, and he's in "Stable" condition. I presume that means he will recover.